The Sailing Ship 'George W. Truitt, Jr.' 1910

Antonio Jacobsen painted 'The Sailing Ship 'George W. Truitt, Jr.'' with what seems like the kind of precision that comes from knowing boats inside and out. The sky is a delicate, smudgy blue, a world away from the sharp detail of the ship itself. It gives the impression that the ship itself is what matters. The waves look kind of perfunctory, like Jacobsen wasn’t all that interested in them. But then you look closer and the detail in the rigging is just insane, all these tiny lines doing their jobs. There’s something almost obsessive about it. You can imagine him really getting into the process, each line a tiny, deliberate act of devotion. The sails are puffed up and white, capturing a sense of movement and the idea of traveling. It makes me think of someone like Thomas Eakins, who was similarly committed to getting every little thing right. But where Eakins was all about the human form, Jacobsen was obsessed with these beautiful, complicated machines. It’s like, each artist has their own way of seeing the world, and their art is a way of sharing that vision with us.